Thoughts and commentary about the janitorial and office cleaning business.

07/22/2017

I'm one of the unfortunate uninsured

I notice quite a bit of talk concerning the health care debate in Congress, even from those who ought know better, suggesting that any of the recent Republican repeal or repeal-and-replace bills would cause some 20 million people to "lose their health care". We seem unable to distinguish "health care" from "health insurance".

I have no dental insurance (though I suspect I could afford it) but I do have dental care; I even was able to go in for my semi-annual check-up and cleaning Thursday, with no dental insurance at all. I paid cash, at a discount. My dentist charges me less than he would show on the invoice if I were using insurance, even giving me a discount for using a debit card. Go figure – patient choice, no "provider network" to worry about, and a free market – to lower costs.

Is not cost, both for care and for insurance, the underlying issue?

Ought we not address it first?

Lower drug prices by reining in the FDA. Allow competition in insurance by allowing cross-state-line purchases, and backing off state requirements for various coverages. Get rid of state "certificates of need". Back way off today's Jim Crow laws, which use regulatory agencies to restrict entry into various medical professions (and hundreds of other professions as well) to keep prices up. Get rid of the inequitable tax treatment of individually purchased versus employer purchased insurance, so as to encourage folks to shop for the policy that best fits their needs, and to make insurance "portable" from job to job. (How many folks in America are stuck in jobs they don't want, simply because they need to keep their current employer-dictated insurance policy?)

I could charge a whole lot more for the commercial janitorial service I provide to the greater Phoenix area if our state and federal governments developed similar anti-market regulations in my field. After all, we impact health as well - Indoor Air Quality via HEPA filtered vacs and microfiber dust wipes, proper touch-point sanitation, and so on. Perhaps I need a lobbyist, and some cash, to rent the legislature for a session.

We've offered janitorial services in Phoenix since 1974; hold the BBB's A-plus rating; and have long been in the forefront of the industry in environmentally sensitive cleaning for health, safety and security. Our office cleaning program can generally improve Indoor Air Quality, in the size range of most allergens, by a factor of 50%, as reflected in our ongoing IAQ sampling. We also furnish Green Seal certified recycled restroom paper products and janitorial supplies.